Manufacture of matches



UNTTnn STATES PATENT @Trncn.

GEORG FIRSCHING, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE DUPLEX MATCH COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

MANUFACTURE OF MATCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,138, dated November 23, 1897. Application filed April 6, 1897. Serial No. 630,957. (No specimens.) Patented in Austria October 18, 1896, No. LG/4,135.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORG FIRSCHING, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Vienna,Austria-Hungary,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Matches, (for which I have obtained Austrian Patent No. a6/4,135, dated October 18, 1896,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in headless matches free from phosphorus and which are intended to ignite by scratching againsta suitably-prepared surface.

Matches have heretofore been made in which a sulfate of ammonia is employed in connection with sodium chlorate but the volatile nature of such materials renders the match unreliable and subject to deterioration. I find that by substituting a metallic sulfate for the ammonia sulfate the match is rendered durable.

The process of making my improved matches is as follows: The match-blanks or wooden splints of suitable cross section, usually square, are tied up and fastened into bundles of five hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand or more, as may be most convenient for handling, forming thus a sort of round disk, which is advantageously made straight on both sides by placing it on a flat surface or pressing down the splints that protrude. The disks are first thoroughly dried and then dipped, preferably on both sides, into substantially the following solution: 87.5 parts sodium chlorate, 12.5 parts gum-arabic, 7.5 parts sulfate of a metal proper, and one hundred and twenty-five parts water.

I have employed coppers or sulfate of iron as the metallic sulfate, being a sulfate of one of the metals proper, otherwise known as the heavier metals, excluding the metals of the alkalies or of the alkaline earths. After dipping the disks of matches are to be thoroughly dried, and then they are dipped into an inflammable waterproof solution. I prefer and have used twenty-five parts rosin, 67.5 parts turpentine liquid, one hundred and twentyfive parts oleic acid, best quality, and 37.5 parts linseed-oil.

The dipping should be to a greater depth than the dipping into the oxidizing solution,

in order that the waterproofing inflammable material may coat the match to the middle portion, or nearly so, and fully cover the oxidizing solution. After the matches thus dipped have been thoroughly dried they are ready to be filled into boxes of any suitable size for sale. The boxes have on one or more of their surfaces a coating upon which the match can be ignited by friction, such coating consisting of twenty-five parts amorphous phosphorus, 12.5 parts antimony, 3.75 parts glass powder, twenty-five parts water, and 6.25 parts gum-arabic.

It will be seen that the matches on being dipped at their ends into the solution containing the oxidizing ingredient or consuming agent Will take up or absorb the said ingredient mostly or substantially at their ends,

the same penetrating into the wood from the end but accumulating most toward or at the ends. This is a very important point, for if said oxidizing ingredient were distributed uniformly through the match, as would be the case if the whole match was immersed in the solution, the resultwould be that the Whole match would be so violently combustible that it would be consumed almost immediately, flashing explosively from end to end, and would thus be unsuitable for use. On the other hand, care must be exercised to insure the taking up of enough of the oxidizing material to ignite the match. It is thus apparent that what is desired is an accumulation of the oxidizing ingredients toward the end of the match. This I obtain by the process, above described, of dipping the match endwise; and it is advantageous to have the igniting agent at each end of the match, because either end may be ignited, which is an important consideration with the headless match,and the comparatively unimpregnated central portion of the match will carry the flame, but slowly, so that the match can safely be held while burning, and the second end may be ignited if desired.

In this improvement all the impregnations or treatments can be effected While the matches are assembled in compact bundles, enabling large quantities to be simultaneously treated and rendering the process an extremely rapid and cheap one.

This process is, as far as I know, the first to produce a safe and practical headless match, and the advantages of such a match in regard to closeness and ease of packing and in other respects are obvious. The coating of the match by an inflammable Waterproof material maintains the efficiency of the oxidizing materials and adds to the inflammability of the match, the rosin, oleic acid, &c., being moisture resisting.

I claim 1. The method herein described, of manufacturing headless safety-matches, which I consists in applying to the end or ends of the match-splints sodium chlorate, a sulfate of a metal proper and a gum in solution, so as to impregnate the end or ends of the splints, thoroughly drying and subsequently dipping the splints to a greater depth in a hydrocar- 

